NORRISTOWN >> The room was packed at a Montgomery County budget hearing Thursday as members of the public alternated between criticizing a proposed 11 percent tax increase and praising the community college that a portion of that money will fund.

Pottstown >> “A Wonderful Life,” the music version of the classic story, opens Friday, Dec. 2, and runs through Sunday, Dec. 18, with a total of 12 performances to choose from, including four matinees.

At the November meeting of the Goschenhoppen Historians, local historian and retired Mennonite Pastor Bob Gerhart will portray his ancestor’s return to the area after 270 years. The original Indian Valley Reformed Church was dedicated in 1746.

“Laura’” is a domestic short hair, beautiful true calico (white/orange/black) female spayed, 2 years, taken from the dangerous streets of Darby. She had four beautiful kittens and it is now her turn to find a home without other kitties.

With a number of the senior citizen cooks who have backed our local fire company kitchens retiring from civic organizations, we can only hope they have past their recipes down to their daughters and other kin.

Back by popular demand the “Pennsylvania Dutch A Christmas Carol Trolley” rolls into West Reading again. The traveling Christmas classic aboard the old fashioned Rhoads Christmas Trolley, opens on Friday Nov.

In September I wrote two articles about the life of Bill Montgomery entitled “Treasurers Among Us”. In October, Barb and I attended Bill’s memorial service. After sweet memories and songs presented by members of Bill’s family and friends, an extraordinary talk was given by one of his friends.

Dori Hoch, of Blandon, recently released her latest book, “A Bunny Brothers’ Christmas.” Hoch’s book is filled with colorful illustrations of Bobby and Benjamin Bunnies antics of writing letters to Santa with each one hoping for a toy train just like their friend’s, Tom Turkey.

PLYMOUTH >> Children wearing Lego helmets could barely contain themselves Tuesday as a construction vehicle dumped more than 50,000 Lego bricks outside the Plymouth Meeting Mall, marking the ground breaking of the first ever Legoland in Pennsylvania.

Families looking for a Halloween alternative — and lots of fun — are invited to the 2016 Petra Fall Fest at Petra Church, New Holland, on Friday, Oct. 28, from 5 to 9 p.m. All are welcome, and everything but the optional purchase of food from food trucks is free!

WEST CHESTER >> For the first time ever, professors across Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) went on strike Wednesday at 5 a.m., following 15 months of failed negotiations between their union and the state system.

Pennsylvania Dutch rural folklore was important in providing Rhineland peasants with knowledge of becoming successful American farmers. Although most PA Deitsch folklore revolved around their religion, it is dubious that Grundsau Day (Groundhog Day) was purely an American idea.

Every summer that I can remember as a kid, Mom insisted Pop drive to visit the gravesites of both the Christman’s, in Lehigh County, and the Kohler’s, in Berks County. Mom also took us on walks to the family cemetery of the Siegfried’s, from Siegfriedsdale, located near our farm.

An evening of Halloween traditions and historical folklore will be hosted by Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Historic games, crafts, and folktales from the different cultural groups that worked at Hopewell Furnace will be featured.

Montgomery County Community College, the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, Valley Forge National Historical Park and Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site will present a traveling juried art quilt exhibit, “Piecing Together a Changing Planet,” which illustrates how pollution and climate change have affected national parks.

Our Town Foundation hosts award winning singer, Andrea Taylor, in her iconic performance of “Experience Adele”, a phenomenal live tribute of the popular singer Adele, at the Hamburg Strand Theater, 6 South 4th St.

Dancing Tree Creations Artisans Gallery and Studio is proud to name Emma Ketterer as their next Budding Artist. An opening reception, with light refreshments and the opportunity to meet other local artists, will be held on Thursday, September 29, 2016, from 5pm to 7pm.

There’s a fun-filled day of music, food, and history at the second annual Keim Music Fest from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Jacob Keim Farmstead in Oley. This event is a one-day music event held outdoors to raise awareness and restoration funds for the Keim Farmstead, a property owned by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County.

NORRISTOWN >> The vibrant colors of the new banners surrounding Montgomery County Courthouse represented a renewed pledge to honor 17 Montgomery County residents who gave their lives in military service.

Since Colonial times our ancestors were referred to as the Americanism, “PA Dutch,” a term widely used to describe these immigrants by suburban Philadelphians, who followed the local Quaker-American colloquialism, as people today.

WHITPAIN>>If you’ve ever seriously considered selling your homemade product at a farmers market but didn’t know how to go about it, the Farmers Market Business Incubator’s “first-of-its-kind” course at area venues was custom-made for you.

WHITPAIN >> On a beautiful Monday in September, under cloudless blue skies eerily reminiscent of one of the darkest days in American history, Christie Worthington’s voice faltered briefly under the weight of her emotions, but she quickly summoned the strength to carry on.

The name Jackson Hole was given to this area because it is like descending in to a hole as you navigate down the steep mountains as you enter. It is the valley floor that lies between the Teton Mountain Range (which rises more than 7,000 feet) and the Snake River.

NORRISTOWN >> With heartwarming remembrances of his late father and expressions of gratitude to friends and colleagues who helped him on the road to his dream of becoming a jurist, newly installed Judge Joseph P.